The present invention relates to a method for color mapping attributes from geophysical data and a system therefor. The present invention further relates to a non-transitory computer readable medium including code for performing such a method.
Interaction with multi-dimensional geophysical data is made available to a user through the use of visual displays. For example, three-dimensional (3D) picture quality displays of a particular or selected geophysical formation can be generated using 3D geophysical data, along with dedicated computer software and/or hardware.
Certain techniques allow for the co-visualized display of two or three 3D geophysical datasets using colors either from color look-up tables or using color spaces that provide photographic quality, such as RGB, CMY, HSL, or any other color spaces known to one of ordinary skill in the art. In one aspect, commercially available RGB blending techniques map three geophysical attributes to the three axes of a color cube. For example, a single attribute is mapped to just one color channel. As an example, a single attribute may be mapped to red, while another is mapped to green and a third is mapped to blue.
Many techniques exist for modeling geophysical data. For example, Stratigraphic Forward Modelling (SFM) tools are numerical, process-based software that aim to simulate tectonic and sedimentary processes controlling stratigraphic architecture. These tools can be classified according to the processes affecting sediment production, transport and deposition that they simulate, as well as the degree of the simplifications of these processes. SFM tools have been widely used to understand and illustrate controls on stratigraphy for a variety of sedimentary environments. Currently, there are a variety of SFM tools used in the context of hydrocarbon exploration, for building basin models or to help in predicting reservoir presence and characteristics.
Prior methods viewed layers or properties of a 3D geophysical data image from tools, such as an SFM tool, separately. For example, prior methods displayed images of the layers or properties as a series of side-by-side images, as a sequence of images varying through time as, for example, in a video sequencing image clip, or by using cross-sections to visualize several layers simultaneously but only for a single grid cell row. A user viewing these results would then need to assimilate the results from the multiple images before being able to provide an analysis of the 3D geophysical data. The user must visually view and scan for subtle changes between layers and/or between related properties of the separately displayed images. Such assimilation is a difficult and time-consuming task.
Prior methods exist for display of hyperspectral imagery where images for many individual spectral bands are combined for display using multi-dimensional color spaces. The prior art combines two-dimensional (2D) data recorded directly for each spectral band as measurements of surface properties either using aerial or satellite imaging. Standard practice is to select three bands from the numerous bands recorded, but methods to combine all recorded images have been presented.
The present invention aims to provide an improved method for analyzing multi-dimensional geophysical data, which relies on using a multi-dimensional color space to display the results from geophysical attributes that share at least two common coordinate references. For example, combining geophysical attributes that share a common X and Y grid, allows a user to view the geophysical attributes over a range of Z values.